Mysterious: The Innate Sacred Body of Destiny

Chapter 335 Exploring Picture Frames and Monoculars

Chapter 335 Exploring Picture Frames and Monoculars

A sliver of sticky spider silk shot out from the gun muzzle, precisely wrapping around "Sharon" in front of him.

However, just before the spider silk touched him, "Sharon" suddenly became ethereal, transforming into a thin, eerie human skin. It rushed towards Lorne with a chilling wind, trying to envelop him!

"What the hell is that?" Lorne quickly took a few steps back and pulled the trigger again.

"Bang!"

This time, it sprayed out frost.

When attacked, the movements of the human skin became noticeably sluggish.

Without giving the monster a chance to breathe, the runic steel sword appeared out of thin air in Lorne's hand. With a slash that glowed faintly, like a hot knife through butter, the eerie human skin let out a silent shriek before losing its vitality.

The battle happened extremely quickly, from the moment the human-skinned monster appeared to its complete annihilation, the entire process took less than ten seconds.

"Something happened?"

Sharon reappeared at the door.

This time it was for real—feeling the familiar spirituality, Lorne breathed a sigh of relief.

He briefly recounted what had just happened to Sharon, then turned his gaze to the "corpse" of the monster in human skin.

At this moment, the characteristics of the human skin had solidified. It was like a huge, irregular diamond, with countless facets, reflecting an eerie light in the dim light. And on each facet, a different twisted, tormented face was reflected. Those faces were densely packed, and just one glance was enough to send a chill down one's spine.

"A ghostly figure in human skin," Sharon deduced. "A monster that can mimic the appearance of others."

"A very straightforward name," Lorne commented.

After confirming there were no other dangers, the two began sorting through their loot. Besides the unique properties of the "Human Skin Shadow" and the extraordinary characteristics of the corpse, Lorne also unexpectedly found a metal badge about the size of an eyeball engraved with intricate and peculiar patterns on the corpse of the slain explorer. On the back of it was a circle of tightly packed, small ancient Hermesian inscriptions: "Hold this item, and you may join."

What does this mean, a communication certificate? Lorne was a little confused, but after confirming that it seemed to pose no danger, he chose to put it away.

Let's study it slowly when we get back.

After tidying up their loot in the room, the two continued their exploration deeper into the tomb.

Before long, a passageway leading to the main burial chamber appeared before the two of them.

By the dim light of the lantern, the two noticed that the entire passageway, including the walls on both sides and the stone slabs on the ceiling, was riddled with pits and dents, but one thing remained intact.

It was a picture frame hanging about seven or eight meters in front of me. It was brownish-yellow in color, and the wood grain was clearly visible. Only one side of it was visible for the time being.

"That thing—it's dangerous." Lorne's gaze flickered warily toward the picture frame. The premonition of disaster was far stronger than that of the "human-skinned shadow" from before.

Sharon observed it carefully for a moment, then shook her head slightly, indicating that she didn't know exactly what it was either.

Seeing this, Lorne took out the monocle again and gently rubbed it.

"I wonder—at such a distance, it'll still be useful—"

He took a deep breath and slowly put the monocle on his right eye. His vision blurred at first, then fragmented pieces of information struggled to surface in his mind: "■————Ghost————Picture Frame■".

2

■■————Illumination————Spirit————Sealing■□

"

It actually worked! Although the results were incomplete, at least Lorne understood what this thing in front of him was.

"This is a ghost frame." Lorne took off his glasses and explained to Sharon, "As long as you step into its effective range and are reflected in its mirror, your spirit will instantly detach from your flesh and blood, become a portrait, and be sealed inside it forever."

What do you think?

"It's dangerous—" Sharon sensed the spiritual energy emanating from the direction of the "ghostly picture frame." In her "vengeful spirit" state, she couldn't completely avoid its effects.

"Wraiths" can also be considered a special type of spirit.

"What about ranged attacks?" Lorne thought of his submachine gun again. "Break it with bullets—"

No, this might lead to some unexpected accidents.

"Should we find another way around?" He examined the seemingly seamless stone wall.

"Um--"

After a moment's thought, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a uniquely shaped brass key from his "portable space".

This is the "master key" that Father Utravsky gave him.

With the infusion of spirituality, a door, emitting a faint light and existing between reality and illusion, appeared out of thin air on the stone wall beside them.

"It actually works?"

Logically speaking, this key should not be able to open the "door" that has been imbued with mystical effects.

"Is it because the tomb's defenses are mostly concentrated in the main passageway and the obvious mechanisms, thus neglecting the surrounding walls?"

"The area behind the wall is actually safer than an obvious passageway."

He analyzed the situation while glancing at Sharon.

"Ms. Sharon, would you like to try taking a detour?"

The "vengeful spirit" can pass through walls directly, without even needing the key, but she can't bring a living person with her through.

"We can give it a try," Sharon said softly, glancing at the illusory door on the wall.

Lorne calmly activated some of his accumulated "luck" and walked straight into the room.

"Very good, no surprises—"

Following the door opened by the "master key," the two successfully bypassed the dangerous passage and arrived directly at the entrance to the main burial chamber.

Before them stood a black stone door, also covered in patterns resembling those carved by a knife and axe. At the very center of the door was a greyish-white disc. The disc's surface was divided into twelve squares, but these squares were not evenly distributed; some were large, others small, creating a highly discordant appearance. Furthermore, each square contained shadows of varying sizes.

"Is this the symbol of the Amon family?" Lorne murmured. "This disc seems to represent time." Could it be that this family—once possessed the power over "time"?

After pushing open the stone door, an extremely spacious burial chamber came into view. In the very center of the chamber, a high platform was built, on which sat a heavy, dark coffin.

On the surrounding walls, iron-colored lamp holders protrude from the walls, each holding a white candle that is still burning quietly.

None of the candles flickered at all, as quiet as a still painting, not at all like they had been burning for a thousand years in a closed space.

But even more striking than these eerie candles were the various corpses scattered throughout the tomb. Some wore black woolen overcoats and top silk hats, while others were dressed as ordinary workers and wore flat caps.

Judging from their clothing, they must have joined the company in the last few years.

What's even more bizarre is that these corpses all had shriveled skin, white hair, and were curled up on the ground, as if they were all elderly people who had died peacefully in their old age.

"Were they the people who came here to explore before?"

"How did they all turn out like this?!" Lorne frowned deeply. Those who could come to explore a place like this must all be young and strong extraordinary individuals; how could they all suddenly appear so aged?

"These people—have had their time stolen from them." Sharon's cool voice rang out from the side, unusually tinged with a hint of solemnity.

Time — "The Thief" — Could it be that the higher sequences of the "The Thief" pathway can even steal "time"? Lorne instantly thought of the distorted clock face symbol at the entrance of the tomb.

"What do we do now—there's no way to take a detour here." He felt a bit helpless.

"Look over there."

Following Sharon's gaze, Lorne discovered, in the shadows of the platform, another picture frame, strikingly similar to the "ghost frame" he had encountered before, was upside down!

"Another ghost frame?" Or something like that? He pulled out his monocle again.

Strangely enough, this time, before he could even put on his glasses, the monocle trembled slightly in his palm, as if resonating with something deep within the tomb!

"This thing—is it really related to this family?"

Lorne muttered something, took a coin out of his pocket, tossed it upwards, and sighed softly after it landed heads up.

With a strange and complicated feeling, he slowly put the slightly trembling monocle on his right eye.

"This, this is—"

Suddenly, a strong sense of disorientation arose, and an invisible force suddenly came from the dark coffin in front of them.

Through the lenses, Lorne discovered that everything in his field of vision was veiled by a faint, timeless gray-white filter. Even the eerie power in the air that could steal time seemed to have softened.

"I'm fine, and—"

"Interesting, really interesting."

Then, under Sharon's gaze, he moved.

Without any protection, they walked step by step toward the high platform and the stone coffin that exuded an ominous aura.

"Don't go!" Sharon's voice carried a clear sense of urgency for the first time.

She saw Lorne put on his monocle and suddenly stop, then, as if sleepwalking, head towards the dangerous area littered with dried corpses. Without hesitation, she lunged forward to stop him.

However, just as she stepped into the central area of ​​the tomb, an indescribable sense of stagnation and decay instantly gripped her.

As a "vengeful spirit," her soul felt as if it were immersed in a viscous swamp, making every thought incredibly difficult. Even more terrifying, she could clearly feel her life force being constantly plundered.

She had to stop, even stumbling backward several meters before barely managing to shake off the strange force. Looking at Lorne's retreating figure, she couldn't remain calm and cried out anxiously, "Come back quickly!"

Lorne, who was walking forward, paused slightly. He didn't turn around, but spoke in an unusually calm tone.

"It's alright, Ms. Sharon."

My intuition tells me—

"This mausoleum—it seems to have taken me as one of their own."

"Or rather—"

"--similar."